"Croeso I'r Caerdydd" a Cardiff Travel Page by M0B1US

Hello and Welcome!

As the youngest Capital City in Europe and recently gaining it's own National Assembly, Cardiff is a vibrant City with plenty going on and seemingly growing at an exponential rate! Many of the attractions and buildings in Cardiff are only a few years old, including such landmarks as the Millennium stadium. Indeed, if you had left Cardiff say a decade ago and returned now, the city would be practically unrecognisable!

Another part of Cardiff's expanding culture is the fact that such popular festivals and sporting events as the Winter Wonderland, the Great Welsh Beer Festival and the Welsh Rally are also only in their third years! Truly this is city on the up and up...

Cardiff is also extremely rich in history, being one of the most important cities in the World during the Industrial Revolution.

I have only recently moved here, but I love the place already - there is so much potential here!

Recently I have been touring a number of castles and Roman remains in South Wales. For attractions near to Cardiff, any of those in Gwent or Glamorgan are within an hour of Cardiff.

Want to know about 'Real Cardiff'? Check out Peter Finch's wry observations about what makes Cardiff really tick...

Check out the great Geograph Picture Gallery using the OS grids (Cardiff ST158776)

For more pics of Cardiff, why not check out my Flickr Cardiff Set

For more in depth information about Wales as a whole, I am building up my Wales page and recommend you visiting it as well!

Cardiff is a very compact city with two main areas to visit, which are the City Centre itself and Cardiff Bay about a mile to the south...

There is more than enough to keep you occupied in Cardiff for at least a couple of days if not more.

Probably the most popular attraction is Cardiff Castle which has been a fortification for at least the last 2,000 years since the Roman times.

Probably the most noticeable attraction is the Millennium Stadium - a striking ultra-modern stadium capable of holding 72,500. All the more striking considering that it was finished early for a mere ?150m - perhaps the planners at Wembley should be taking notes!

Cardiff also has a beautiful Civic Centre of buildings made of Portland Stone, including the main Cardiff University building in which I have the honour to study. It is also here that you can find the National Museum and Gallery of Wales, which we appear to be using as one of our classrooms...

Cardiff shopping is amongst the best in the UK with a large pedestrianised area and over half a dozen picturesque Victorian and Edwardian Arcades to keep you dry in case it rains!

The next major attraction in Cardiff is Cardiff Bay, which has a whole host of attractions including Techniquest - an excellent hands-on science museum and the lovely waterfront developments including Mermaid Quay with its many shops and restaurants.

Cardiff Bay is also the location of Cardiff's latest and most striking attraction, the Wales Millennium Centre. A massive new international arts centre looking rather akin to a massive golden armadillo!

Other nearby attractions include Llandaff Cathedral, the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagan's and Castell Coch spectacularly located on a wooded hillside a few miles to the north.

Still close by is the huge Caerphilly Castle, which is the third largest in Europe, the Roman Legionary Museum at Caerleon near Newport and Barry Island seaside resort and beach.

Slightly further afield is the stunning Brecon Beacons National Park, due north past Wales' famous coal mining valleys...

There is something for everyone in and around Cardiff!

Once you get to Cardiff, you will mostly find that all you need to do is walk to get around as it is such a compact city. Indeed, walking really is the best way to see most of the sights as much of the centre is pedestrianised. Also with a vast amount of Cardiff's shopping under the roofs of a huge number of Victorian, Edwardian and modern arcades, you have a perfect opportunity to dodge the all too common rainy days...

Cardiff Bay, the other main tourist attraction is amply served by its own train station and several bus services including local bus, BayXpress and City Sightseeing tour bus. None of these services take more than ten minutes to get there from the city centre.

Buses and trains can also get you to most of the other attractions nearby - or further afield. Although trains are relatively expensive, Cardiff is only a couple of hours away by rail. The secret to cheap travel in the UK is the National Express and Mega Bus routes where if you book even a week or two in advance on the internet it is actually possible to get limited return seats for as little as £2 to London!

Cardiff also has its own International Airport with a lot of handy frequent domestic and foreign flights available. So without much effort you could get a connecting flight from most major cities in the world via heathrow! This Summer a new railway will link the airport to the city making the journey even easier!

Another great way to get around Wales and also Cardiff is the Freedom of Wales Flexi Pass which are a series of tickets giving you unlimited access to bus and rail during specified periods, as well as a whole raft of money off offers on attractions up and down the country!